“The number of our MSMEs is more or less 65 million. Their contribution to our GDP is 61 percent, very big,” the head of state remarked while opening the 2024 BRI Microfinance Outlook event in Jakarta, followed online on Thursday.
The president noted that the MSME sector needs special attention from the government since apart from being a contributor to the national GDP, it has also succeeded in absorbing up to 97 percent of the workforce.
On that occasion, Jokowi commended the role of state-owned bank BRI in developing the national MSME sector through the implementation of digital banking to reach customers at the grassroots level.
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According to the president, the government also contributes to the development of MSMEs through the provision of low-interest people's business credit (KUR), with a maximum credit of Rp500 million (around US$31,949).
“For KUR, the subsidy from the government is Rp46 trillion (around US$2.93 billion), so the interest rate can decline to three percent for micro-enterprises and six percent for small enterprises,” he remarked.
He highlighted that the subsidy is not small, as the value is equal to the budget for building 40 reservoirs.
President Jokowi lauded the presence of several MSME financing instruments, such as Ultra Micro (UMi) financing managed by BRI, with the number of debtors reaching 8.2 million people.
Moreover, the Prosperous Family Economic Development (Mekaar) program of state-run microlender Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) can provide a maximum credit of Rp25 million (around US$1,597) to 15.2 million debtors.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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